Self-censorship on the schedule: “If we teach students that you can achieve things by creating fear, then we are teaching them something wrong”

Almost one in four teachers refrain from teaching topics that could be controversial, a study shows. Educational consultant Maria Bjørn calls it ‘five minutes into closing time’ if one is to preserve teaching freedom.

Endelig.

As a teacher, Maria Bjørn has had a bottle thrown at her because she had distributed an article from Jyllands-Posten, which at the time printed the Muhammad cartoons. She has also seen a student throw chairs and tables in frustration over the day’s topic of civil liberties.